OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 9: Oakland Raiders tight end Derek Carrier (85) is tackled by Pittsburgh Steelers defenseman Vince Williams (98) during the first quarter of their game on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 9: Oakland Raiders defenseman Marquel Lee (55) and Kony Ealy (96) celebrate after a play during their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 9: Oakland Raiders running back Doug Martin (28) is tackled by Pittsburgh Steelers defensemen Joe Haden (23) and Sean Davis (21) during the first quarter of their game on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 9: Oakland Raiders running back Doug Martin (28) rushes up the field past Pittsburgh Steelers defensemen during the first quarter of their game on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 9: Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Chris Boswell (9) slips and falls as he attempts a field goal in the fourth quarter of their loss to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

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OAKLAND — Derek Carrier kept the ball he caught to give the Raiders a stunning comeback win, the ball that became only his seventh catch in 13 games when Derek Carr found the backup tight end on 4th-and-goal from 6 yards out with 21 seconds remaining. Carrier caught five passes in his first 12 games. His seventh catch of the year gave the Raiders a 23-21 lead over the division-leading Steelers as afternoon turned to dusk in Oakland on Sunday.

Carrier won’t keep the ball, though. He’ll give it to his newborn daughter, Dahlia, who his wife delivered five days before her husband made the biggest catch of his team’s season when his tight curl route and the Coliseum’s messy field conditions caused Steelers cornerback Mike Hilton to slip, leaving Carrier wide open. Sunday’s game was the first of seven home games Carrier’s mom and wife didn’t attend. Of course Carrier made the biggest play of his Raiders tenure without them in attendance, so he made a proclamation after the game.

“Now they just have to stay at home the rest of the season,” he said with a smile inside the Raiders’ locker room.

Carrier’s game-winning score capped off a banner day for Raiders tight ends in their 24-21 comeback win over the Steelers. Jon Gruden said after the game that tight ends coach Frank Smith deserves free chicken wings at Hooters. No. 1 tight end Jared Cook continued his Pro Bowl-worthy season with seven catches for 116 yards, reaching 825 yards on the season and eclipsing his previous single-season record for receiving yards (759 with the Titans in 2011) in now his 10th year. After the game Gruden declared Cook the team’s clear-cut MVP. No. 2 tight end Carrier caught the final go-ahead touchdown, and blocking tight end Lee Smith caught his second touchdown in as many weeks in the fourth quarter after not scoring in 2016 or 2017.

“I’m calling for Frank Smith to get a raise after that one,” Lee Smith said. ” … We have a veteran room. We’ve all been around a while. We know what our roles are. This is great … Derek scored today. Jared finding the end zone is a regular occurrence. I found a way to get in and help the team win. It was a momentum-shifter.”

The Raiders now sit in a three-way tie with the 49ers and Cardinals for the NFL’s worst record at 3-10. The 49ers upset the Broncos Sunday, so without Sunday’s fireworks the Raiders would’ve controlled their own destiny for the No. 1 pick instead of sitting third in the draft order on the strength of schedule tiebreaker. But open the double doors to the Raiders locker room, listen to two speakers blaring music throughout and it’s clear the Raiders don’t care where their team selects in April.

A sharp right turn inside the locker room revealed a sizable crowd around Cook, one so big that Carrier, despite catching the game-winning touchdown, was relegated to several lockers down for his postgame interview since there was no space in front of his own two to the left of Cook’s. Smith, who occupies the locker to Cook’s immediate left, waited until Cook finished to speak with reporters so he could move his limbs.

“That’s dope man, that’s super cool,” Cook said of his backups’ performances. “Those guys work their tails off to be here and to see those guys get rewarded for their hard work is great.”

“You forget about Derek and Lee quickly in the pass game,” Carr said. “There weren’t many plays designed for them in training camp. Lee is the blocker, the heavy guy and all those kind of things. Derek was playing in Jared’s spot, just behind him. I know now to throw to everybody during training camp and take every rep. It’s one of those things where it’s so fun to see guys like that come in the fourth quarter and get game-winning touchdowns.”

For the third straight week the Raiders trailed by only a score in the fourth quarter against an opponent favored by double digits. In Week 12, the Ravens turned a 20-17 fourth-quarter lead into a 34-17 victory. Last week, the Chiefs led 33-30 but the Raiders couldn’t complete their comeback in a 40-33 loss. On Sunday, the Steelers led 14-10 before Smith’s touchdown with 5:25 left. Then after Ben Roethlisberger marched the Steelers 75 yards in 2:25 to re-take the lead, the Raiders trailed again, this time 21-17 with 2:55 left and 75 yards until the end zone.

After a 14-yard completion to Cook sent the Raiders into Steelers territory, Carr dumped a perfect pass into Seth Roberts’ hands for a 39-yard gain to the 7-yard line. Four plays later, he found Carrier on fourth down as the yellow Terrible Towels stopped waving and the home contingent erupted. Carrier raised his left arm with the ball held high, then hoisted both in the air as Dwayne Harris jumped into his arms.

“As soon as that play was called, DC and I just smiled at each other because we had been working that for a while,” Carrier said. “It was exciting … just in terms of what we have been preaching as a team is resiliency. We definitely faced some adversity this year and just finishing strong and that’s exactly what we did today.”

Lee Smith said Frank Smith deserves a raise, and that he, Cook and Carrier would love playing for Smith the rest of their careers. Carrier chuckled at the idea of his position coach’s free chicken wings reward, but he can’t attend. He has a wife taking care of a 2-year-old boy and a newborn girl at home. Even a game-winning touchdown doesn’t excuse him from daddy duty.

But just as he did after his touchdown, he’ll hold that ball tight for his daughter, just as the Raiders will cherish a meaningful victory in an otherwise meaningless game.

Matt Schneidman joined the Bay Area News Group in September 2017 to cover the Oakland Raiders. He graduated from Syracuse University in Spring 2017 and has interned with The Buffalo News, the New York Post and USA TODAY.

All the Chiefs had to do to give QB Patrick Mahomes a chance in overtime was not allow a touchdown. They couldn't do it. That's the fault of their defense. The NFL overtime system is fine the way it is.